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When the intruder broke into stone, Vanessa told herself that she was full of pride for the Hunter's victory. She didn't feel it though. Instead, she felt the slight pang of sorrow at the whispers, the screamed requests that asked for just one thing. All it wanted was to go...home. And they'd killed it. Sure, the ninja had done damage to their front gate, but still. It had just wanted to go home.

Who...who wouldn't want to go home?

This sentiment dissolved just as quickly as the stone had when the figure reformed and spoke again. All that caring went straight out the window when he told them that he was going to kill them all now. Somewhere in the back of her head, past the "Oh hey we might all actually die now" was the distinct thought of "Nonono I am not dying in my pajamas." (Some might say that the red-head may have had her priorities a bit mixed up at this point, but it was a legitimate concern that flew rather fleetingly through her mind.)

Then the ninja was gone, only to reappear some distance away, cutting down trainees before flashing out again. It came so fast that Vanessa didn't even have time to do anything past lift Volt slightly, as if the Tesla cannon would work as at least some barrier. This was most likely not the best choice, but there was really no other option. It wouldn't stop her from dying, she knew that well enough. She couldn't even see the blades that she knew would destroy her. She could barely register the blade's slash before it had moved on to leave her with the effiable pain of death. She'd known that pain, back from the trials. Known it all too well as Epsilon Three. But those hadn't been real. None of that had been real. This, right here, right now, that was real. That was reality.

And in this reality, Vanessa's real death awaited her.

But she wasn't dead. Instead, there was that jovial old lady who made cookies, the scent of fresh-bakes goods filled with love and devotion. With this came the sudden feeling as if her happiness was pulling away, like grains of sand placed through a sifter. It was gradual, but the sensation of losing her joy, her happiness, was still felt. At least it was going bit by bit, instead of just ripping from her and leaving her to fall into a dismal pit. Still, the coming sadness edged at the life trainee, just waiting for the hole that would soon form inside her. And it did come, although not as harshly as it could've been expected. It was no torrent of sorrow, nor a cataclysm of anguish.

Vanessa simply felt...sad.

Whatever was happening with their once-enemy and the cookie-maker almost slipped past her notice. She caught the woman's apology, their exchange, what seemed like relief on both sides, and then they were gone. Vanessa stared at the place they had been, the gently falling sparkles that were the only evidence of their disappearance.

It finally occurred to Vanessa then that she was, in fact, not dead. She blinked in confusion, looking to her still-summoned cannon as if he could provide an answer as to what had just happened. The electric dragon gave a mental shrug, as if trying not to ruin the moment of whatever had just gone down at the front gates, or as if he was trying to cover up for the fact that he had no answer to give her, no joke even. Whatever had just happened was a puzzle to him as well, a challenge to be reviewed at a later date and eventually just give up on as a mystery.

"Merry Christmas then..." Vanessa found herself whispering to the now-gone figures, despite everything that had had just happened. She glanced around as one of the other trainees mentioned the huge mess that was now their surroundings with a slight frown. How were they going to fix all this? Especially while they were all within a inch of dying...Vanessa just wanted to go to bed. She was half tempted to just fall over there and fall asleep (she was in her pajamas and she was already carrying her pillow after all...), but she was sane enough to know that that would be a bad idea.

Vanessa desummoned Volt (who she just no realized was still in weapon form in her hand) and tried to really take in the scope of the damage. It looked like they'd be trying to do repair work for quite a long time...

So much blood? Really? Candace was trying very, very hard to keep calm as she looked down at her abdomen. Her sleeve, her shirt and even the pants she had been wearing were covered in blood, and her body trembled with fear. No. Nonono. Keep calm. It's..it'll be okay. Jerry was right, they could go to the life labs and she could get all patched up just fine. It'd be okay. She'd be alright. Her Jerry would take care of her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and cleared her throat, making a face at the taste. Okay, bad idea was bad. She was feeling so lightheaded, she kind of just wanted to close her eyes. Could she do that? Hm...maybe it was like that time Clarice gave her a concussion, no sleeping just in case. She'd do that. Stay awake. Yes. That shouldn't be too hard. Despite the arm around her shoulder Candace rolled over, slowly pushing herself up onto her hands and knees and then finally her feet; she used Jerry as a means to pull herself up to stand, leaning heavily on the man. "I'mokay...I think I've been worse...?" She paused to think, trembling hands tightly clutching his coat sleeve. That time with Robert? No, she'd been okay. The only thing that'd really been terribly hurt had been her pride. The battle in the gorge? Huh...actually, she'd fared pretty well during that! Laughed to death? No...okay so maybe she'd been better. Oh! No, wait! "I got my head smashed in with a chair during the trials~." Candace said all too cheerfully, trying to keep herself calm with humor. Morbid humor but humor nonetheless.

"Jerry, I want to leave." She whimpered, that wave of sadness from the old woman's parting washing over her all over again. "And can I have a hug?" Even as she said this she was beginning to direct Jerry away from the battle field, or she hoped it was right ri--ah, yes. There they were...the beautiful buildings, a looming monolith that they would get to behold for the rest of their lives.

Why did everything look so much less cheerful than they had literally ten minutes ago?


((Yes, exiting))